Free
by Coshie
Summary: After Neji looses to Naruto in the 3rd part of the Chuunin exam, loss isn't the only thing on his mind. He had told Naruto, told everyone, about his life. And now, stuck dwelling on it, Hiashi comes to visit. NejiPoV. Was bored. OneShot. R&R.


A/N: This is pretty much just Neji-PoV after he looses the Chuunin-exam-face-off to Naruto. Just felt like writing something Neji-centered. Thanks for choosing to read. This is my first posted story after my absence, so... Enjoy!

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Neji laid back, staring at the ceiling. Did he really just loose to Naruto? Did he… did he loose?

Loss, however, didn't seem as important as it should. Neji closed his eyes for a brief moment to figure out his emotional situation. He felt, deep down, like he should be angry and severely ticked off about loosing to Naruto, who was quite possibly the worst ninja in the Academy.

But…. But now, it didn't seem necessary to worry about such things. He had also spilled his past out to Naruto, and everyone in the audience. Not that that, in particular, bothered him. It was the fact that he was now dwelling on it and thinking about it that bothered him.

His father… was killed. Just to protect the main branch. Is that all the cadet branch was for? Human _sacrifices_?

He glanced up as he heard the door open.

"Lord Hyuuga!" the medic-nin murmured, bowing slightly as Hiashi walked in.

"If I may have a moment alone with Neji?" he nodded at the medic-nin.

"Of… of course, sir," they nodded enthusiastically and walked around him, closing the door behind them.

Hurt as though he was, Neji knew his place, and forced himself into a sitting position with a dull groan, bowing his head. "To what to I owe this visit?" he asked simply, looking up again. He had to lean forward, putting his weight on his arms – which were resting on his legs – because of his wounds and the pain.

Hiashi sighed, and glanced out the window. "I would like to tell you… what really happened that day."

Neji narrowed his eyes slightly. "What… day?"

"The day you spoke of earlier. The day that… that Hizashi was taken from us."

"There's nothing to talk about," Neji spat. Then remembered who he was talking to and mumbled an apology.

"You… do not fully understand yet, Neji, what happened. Your father was not killed forcibly, as you seem to think," Hiashi said carefully, looking back at the brown-haired boy, who was now watching the ground with bitterness written all over his scowling face. "Neji…. I was fully prepared to die that day."

Neji looked up suddenly, causing pain in various parts of his body from the quick movement. "Then why was it my father who was killed?" he demanded, rubbing his neck. "And why tell me all this now?"

"Because now, I fell you could fully comprehend it," Hiashi said quietly, letting only a hint of a sigh escape his lips. "Now… I feel like you might believe me."

_It was after we had found out that Cloud wanted my corpse. Many of the Konoha jounin had gathered at he main house. Hizashi was the only cadet branch member present, but there were quite a few main branch members._

_You see, Hizashi had volunteered to be killed in my place._

"_It won't work," one of the jounin was saying. "They want the secret of the Byakugan, not actually Lord Hiashi himself. That's why they tried to kidnap Lady Hinata!"_

"_But the deal was simply to give them Hiashi's corpse," Hizashi said. "Not Hiashi's corpse with the secret of the Byakugan concealed within it. I am physically identical; I will go in his place."_

"_No," I told him. "You cannot!"_

_He was tired of hearing me deny him this, and before anyone could stop him, he punched me in the stomach. At the time, it was a big deal, but now seems meaningless._

"_I hated how our fates were decided when we were born, and how we don't have the power to change who we are," he told me as I tried to regain my breath from my place on the floor. He was staring out the window with a faraway look. "I abhorred the main branch for making the cadet branch the way we are – and I still hate most of you. But, finally, I can make my own decision. This is my will; something that I can do because I want to, not because it's for the good of the main branch. Hiashi, I want to do this," Hizashi told me, bowing his head slightly. "Not because it is the cadet branch's duty to protect the main branch. But because I, as your brother, want to protect you."_

_I tried to say no, but he wouldn't hear another word of it. His mind was made up. His Byakugan would fade with death, and the secret concealed; it was potentially problematic, what with Cloud wanting the secret, but they didn't specify. There was nothing I could do._

"Liar! My father was killed. That story sounds exactly like something the main branch would cook up, just to appease me," Neji spat, and this time, didn't apologize. "My father was killed by the main branch! Killed by _you_!"

"This is why I waited so long to tell you," Hiashi said, not surprised in the least about Neji's outburst. "Because before, you wouldn't understand."

"What is there to understand?" Neji scowled, and looked out the window.

"That I am truly sorry for the loss of your father. I have not come here to tell you this as head of the Hyuuga clan, …but as Hizashi's brother."

Neji looked up.

And felt like his heart had stopped.

"Please," Hiashi said, "believe me. I am sorry."

Neji couldn't tear his eyes from the Hyuuga head. He was… he had gotten down on his knees… and bowed. Bowed to Neji. Bowed to a member of the cadet branch. The Lord of the Hyuuga clan, Head of the Main Branch… bowing to him.

"Please," Neji said, barely louder than a whisper, "raise your head. You don't have to bow… to me."

Neji bowed his own head. However, Hiashi still did not rise.

"You are…. Apology… accepted," Neji said quietly, closing his eyes and smiling. Tears ran down his cheeks, but he did not let Hiashi see.

Neji looked up only when Hiashi had left. He looked out the window, at the sky. Birds flew across the vast blueness.

_Whether or not we can change our fates, Father, I don't know. I don't know if it would be any different if we could choose, or if we followed the path we were born to follow. Either way, my goal is simple. I want to become so strong, that I never loose to anyone again. Not to Naruto, not to Lee. Not to myself._ He let out a relieved sigh and smiled at the outside world.

_Father, there are so many birds today_, he thought, reaching back and untying his forehead protector. _So many birds, flying freely._ With another smile, he closed his eyes and took in the sunshine. _Flying freely._


End file.
